China

Indian foreignminister to visit

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid will make an official visit to China from May 9 to 10 as a guest of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Chinese leaders will meet Khurshid, and Wang will hold talks with his Indian counterpart, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

Indonesia

Chinese FMmeets minister

Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations and other issues of common concern. Wang said Indonesia is an important country in the region.

United States

Pentagon issues DPRK report

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea poses one of the most critical security challenges for the United States in Northeast Asia, because it is pursuing nuclear capabilities and developing long-range ballistic missiles, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The report on the DPRK's military is required by Congress.

Sudan

100 miners die in Darfur

Around 100 miners are estimated to have died inside a collapsed gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region, and nine rescuers trying to free them are now trapped, a miner said on Friday. "Nine people with the rescue team disappeared when the land collapsed around them on Thursday," said the miner.

Iraq

Fake bombdetectors in use

A policeman in Baghdad knows the bomb detector he uses is fake and will do nothing to save lives, but he has his orders. "If I were given a mop and told that it detects bombs in cars, I would still do it without any hesitation," he said. "The device is a 100-percent failure and we know that, but it is imposed on us; we cannot disobey direct orders."

Kyrgyzstan

US militaryplane crashes

Kyrgyzstan said that a US military plane has crashed in the country. Kyrgyzstan hosts a US base that is used for troops transiting into and out of Afghanistan and for C-135 tanker planes that refuel warplanes in flight. An official who did not give his name said the plane broke into three pieces when it crashed on Friday.

European Union

Recession worse than expected

The 17-member eurozone will see a worse recession in 2013 than expected, the European Commission said on Friday in its spring forecast. The commission said the single currency area's GDP will decline 0.4 percent, worse than a previous 0.3 percent forecast.

Xinhua-AFP-AP

(China Daily 05/04/2013 page7)